MK2 Cortina GT L Identification

[rip79]

hi all i nedd help to id my cortina its a 71 gtL its all orginal with no mods but the id tag says it a standard 440 it has all the gt gear ive been under the dash to see if some has put a gt dash in but its has not been removed the motor prefix is cn wich is gt and has been in the car since new.


serial prefix code ck76 model number 12034? does not exist in the parts catalog engine code D trans code V

any help would be greatly appreciated

[cortina-mk1]

rip, from what info i have
the tag says its a 440 deluxe bucket floor shift

even if the 12'0'34 if the 'O' was wrong the rest of the numbers says its a 440

cg76 is a 440
if it was a gt or gt-L it should say cg78



have a look here for more info have a look here for more info

[rip79]

Tanks for the reply i checked out the web site and matches up with my spec book and i thought the "0" was a mistake on the id tag so if dont have GTL what have i got its not a replica gt the id tag serial prefix matches with the number on the shocker tower now ime lost cheers

[30psi 4agte]

mabe i can shed some more light.

CK as opposed to CG prefix was given to cars coming from sydney ford factory in Homebush.
CG is the prefix given from Broadmedows.
The 76 stamped after this means it is indeed a 440 not a GT which would have been stamped 78.

It sounds like someone has swapped the engine and bits over from a gt to a 440 shell. Possibly even cut the chassis number out and welded it in. Can you see any signs of welding underneath the guard where the chassis number is.

If it was somehow a GT it would have the factory upper control arm brackets under the rear of the car for the diff.
Does it have these?

This is usually the quickest way to pick a mock up.

The engine prefix of cn should match the prefix on both the chassis and vin plate .All MK2 cortina stuff will have either a CG or CK start.
So i would say its not even a cortina engine block. Mabe a escort one?

[rip79]

Thers no signs of welding underneath the dif has got got the control arms and the brackets i have Wrecked a 71 gt before wich was the same as this one the id tag was removed but the prefix code was ck76 ive still got most of the parts dash wich i cut out dif+ upper control arm brackets and motor wich match with what ive got now.

for a bit of history of the car ime the 2nd owner of it and i was told that is was sold as a gt from new and the documents from 71 still match up now wich includes the motor
the only difrence ive seen between a normal gt and mine i had a clock where the taco was and a odd looking steering wheel it looked like a escort one but with cortina on it. and the door locks where not in the handels but just below the Door handles
both the Wreck and this one where the same colour metalic bronze and with a white vinyl roof

i hope this helps to solve this problem cheers

[Roy Rogers]

What you have is a scared GT, in 1971 Ford had a big scare from the insurance companies anything with a GT badge on it was going to attract high insurance costs so it pulled the GT badges off it's whole range to be able to sell them (unless you really did want a GT) Cortinas became L's, Capris became XL's and Escorts became GS packs these were different to the L's and XL's of the same models. In the case of the Cortina the car was GT but they removed the tacho and fitted a clock the GT badge in the console and on bootlid were replaced with a L and the codeing was change from a GT to a 440. Once again this is not to be confused with 240L's, 440L's and GTL's this was a 1971 thing to make the insurance affordable. I have wrecked 4 of these cars they were commonly called a optioned 440.

[Roy Rogers]

Just to add if you take the crash pad off the steering wheel you will see the outer wheel of a GT and the inner of a standard wheel this was the same on the Capri. You will have a extra knob on the inside of your doors this is a inside door lock along with the window winder and door opener, another 1971 thing.

[rip79]

Thank you now i know what i have got it had me lost for a bit but now i now what the car is i can work out how ime going to restore it thanks to all who have posted ill put some pics up soon cheers and mery xmas